[Multiplayer] [Guide] Preston Perfected

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

Calprinicus · 4993

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Last Updated:

Oct 2020 - New Taboo + Innsmouth Conspiracy - Deluxe Box

How To Use

My "Perfected" guides for each investigator are updated at the end of each campaign cycle or Taboo update. These have all been tested against standard difficulty campaigns and standalone scenarios.

The deck listed shows the final build after spending about 25xp (campaign average). There is a section on how to build the starting deck and recommended upgrade order. Additionally, it lists a trimmed down 9xp standalone variant.

Enjoy.

SUMMARY

Preston Fairmont is one of my favorite decks!

This deck takes full advantage of Double, Double. You use it to build your wealth by doubling Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, Faustian Bargain, and Hot Streak, then spend it all for big plays by doubling Intel Report, Small Favor, Scrounge for Supplies, and Sneak Attack.

PROS

  • HIGH: Resource generation
  • HIGH: Automatic successes.
  • MID: Extra actions.
  • MID: Big plays.

CONS

  • LOW: Core Stats
  • MID: Low value actions.
  • VULNERABLE: Requires team
  • VULNERABLE: Skill test

HOW TO PLAY

BIG MONEY

Money is Preston specialty! Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, Faustian Bargain, and Hot Streak give Preston a lot of resources to work with and are also events that can be Double, Doubled. He also has access to Family Inheritance which give him 4 resources each turn!

Since it takes an action to collect resources from Family Inheritance, you'll want to maximize when you collect money from it. Ideally, you'll want to hold onto Easy Mark, Emergency Cache, Faustian Bargain, and Hot Streak until you can play two of more of them, then collect all the money from it in one turn.

STAT BOOSTS

Preston definitely has drawbacks. You'll need to boost his stats if you want to pull from the chaos bag. Trial by Fire and Miss Doyle, for Hope, Zeal, and Augur bump a stat to 5 temporarily, giving Preston a good shot at succeeding.

Once you have accumulated resources, Dig Deep and Well Connected also help.

Instead of boosting preston's stat, it's actually better to lower the difficulty. Preston is capable at finding a few clues with Old Keyring . If the difficulty is 0, you can only fail by pulling the token.

BIG PLAYS

An Intel Report is the equivalent to 4 actions. Two to move & two to collect clues, not to mention you don't need to pull tokens from the chaos game (something Preston likes to avoid) nor the actions it takes to return to your current location. It's powerful action economy in exchange for resources. This is what Preston is perfect for.

A Double, Doubled Intel Report can be the equivalent to a whole party round, especially if it's on a high shroud location or one with unengaged enemies. You can pull 4 clues without a test with Intel Report, Deal 4 damage to a foe with Small Favor or Sneak Attack, Collecting 10+ resources is easy with Faustian Bargain or Hot Streak are all things Preston does on the daily.

EXTRA ACTIONS

Leo De Luca is Preston's BFF. Preston needs the extra action to pull resources from Family Inheritance. With 4 actions it allows him to dedicate his turns to abilities which are found in numerous scenarios as well as removing a number of weaknesses from his allies.

The additional action also gives more punch to Trial by Fire.

AGAIN!

I try to use Scrounge for Supplies to recollect an Intel Report or Small Favor, while I use Resourceful to recollect Trial by Fire. Resourceful can be tricky since you need to pull from the chaos bag & succeed, something preston isn't the best at doing.

MULLIGAN & SETUP

Keep:

Exceptions:

STARTING DECK

ASSETS

EVENTS

SKILLS

UPGRADE PRIORITY

STANDALONE 9XP

ASSETS

EVENTS

SKILLS

4 comments

Oct 27, 2020 Django · 4906

With all those events, what do you think of adding Crystallizer of Dreams?

I think card draw and tutoring is also a weakness you should mention (it's inherent to rogue and survivor classes) and that you may never draw Double, Double or Miss Doyle during a game.

To mitigate this:

Oct 27, 2020 Calprinicus · 4993

Crystallizer of Dreams (1) with s skill of 1, Preston would need to likely commit all 3 cards to get any value. (2) adds a monster to your deck you cannot easily handle (3) is not an event & thus takes away from Double, Double.

Lucky Cigarette Case is dead on arrival since you need to succeed by 2 to draw.

Rabbit's Foot - if you make a test, just so you can fail to draw a card, it's better just to use the action to draw. (Drawing Thin is the same reason, and 3xp tabooed)

Trial by Fire, Well Connected, and Dig Deep are already included in this deck and crucial for it's success.

With 35 cards and only 3 allies, Flare and Calling in Favors would be unlikely to find an ally. Sneak Attack > Flare since it's testless damage.

I just updated with Faustian Bargain. On my radar is Tempt Fate which works great with Double, Double and the new Ancient Covenant, but requires further testing & card releases.

Oct 27, 2020 Django · 4906

Regarding Well Connected and Trial by Fire, i meant those nearly guarantee you trigger Lucky Cigarette Case.

Jan 16, 2021 Trigunner · 1

I played this deck in a two-player Carcosa run together with Tommy Muldoon and I really liked it. It worked out very well. That was before Faustian bargain and with very few tweaks for personal taste. In the beginning it's a little rough but if you have upgraded E-Cache and Easy Mark together with Scrounge for Supplies and Resourceful you ensures that you most of the time get what you need atm. Leo de Luca also helps drawing cards with the extra action.